Editing Gene Roddenberry (section)

==Decline in health and death==
In the late 1980s, it was likely that Roddenberry was afflicted by the first manifestations of [[cerebrovascular disease]] and [[encephalopathy]] as a result of his longstanding recreational use of legal and illicit drugs, including [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]], [[methaqualone]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Drew|first1=Brian|title=Exclusive: David Gerrold Talks Frankly About TNG Conflicts With Roddenberry & Berman + JJ-Trek & more|url=https://trekmovie.com/2014/09/12/exclusive-david-gerrold-talks-frankly-about-tng-conflicts-with-roddenberry-berman-jj-trek-more/|publisher=TrekMovie.com|access-date=November 24, 2017|date=September 12, 2014}}</ref> [[methylphenidate]], [[Dexamyl]], and [[cocaine]] (which he had used regularly since the production of ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'').<ref name=engel238>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=238}}</ref> Roddenberry also used [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] for many years, although its cumulative impact on his health remains unclear.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AHeeDAAAQBAJ&q=cannabis | isbn=978-1-78131-482-1 | title=The Impossible Has Happened: The Life and Work of Gene Roddenberry, Creator of Star Trek | date=July 19, 2016 | publisher=Quarto Publishing Group USA }}</ref> Throughout much of his career, he had routinely used stimulants to work through the night on scripts, especially [[amphetamine]]s.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 323</ref> The effects of these substances were compounded by deleterious interactions with [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|diabetes]],<ref name=engel11>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=11}}</ref> [[high blood pressure]], and [[antidepressant]] prescriptions.<ref name=engel238/>

Roddenberry had a stroke at a family reunion in [[Tallahassee, Florida]], in September 1989,<ref>[[#nichols1994|Nichols (1994)]]: p. 11</ref> His health declined further, ultimately requiring him to use a wheelchair.<ref name=engel259/> His right arm was paralyzed after another stroke in early October 1991, causing him ongoing pain as the muscles began to atrophy. It also caused problems with the sight in his right eye, and he found communicating in full sentences difficult.<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 1</ref> At 2:00&nbsp;pm, on October 24, he attended an appointment with his doctor, Dr. Ronald Rich, in [[Santa Monica, California]].<ref>[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 4</ref> He arrived in the building with his staff and began to travel up to the ninth floor in the elevator. As they reached the fifth floor, he began struggling to breathe and was wheeled into the doctor's office, where he was reclined, and a nurse administered [[oxygen]]. Barrett was sent for. Upon her arrival, she held Roddenberry while encouraging him to breathe. He suffered [[cardiopulmonary arrest]] in the doctor's office shortly afterwards.<ref name="Alexander 1995 p. 7">[[#alexander1995|Alexander (1995)]]: p. 7</ref> [[Cardiopulmonary resuscitation|CPR]] was attempted with no effect, and paramedics arrived to take him across the road to the [[UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica|Santa Monica Medical Center]], where he was pronounced dead. He was 70 years old.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hastings|first1=Deborah|title=Man who boldly launched Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2080475//|access-date=March 27, 2015|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|date=October 25, 1991|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref>

The funeral was arranged for November 1, with the public invited to the memorial service at the Hall of Liberty, within the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]], in [[Hollywood Hills]].<ref>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=6}}</ref> It was a secular service; Roddenberry had been [[cremated]] before the event. More than 300 ''Star Trek'' fans attended and stood in the balcony section of the hall, while the invited guests were on the floor level. [[Nichelle Nichols]] sang twice during the ceremony, first "[[Yesterday (Beatles song)|Yesterday]]", and then a song she wrote herself titled "Gene".<ref name=engelpp7to9/> Both songs had been requested by Barrett.<ref>[[#nichols1994|Nichols (1994)]]: p. 10</ref> Several people spoke at the memorial, including [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Whoopi Goldberg]], [[E. Jack Neuman]],<ref name=engelpp7to9>{{harvp|Engel|1994|pp=7–9}}</ref> and [[Patrick Stewart]]. The ceremony was closed by two kilted pipers playing "[[Amazing Grace]]" as a recorded message by Roddenberry was broadcast. A four-plane [[flypast]], in the [[missing man formation]], followed some 30 minutes later.<ref>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=10}}</ref> After his death, ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' aired a two-part episode of season five, called "[[Unification (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Unification]]", which featured a dedication to Roddenberry.<ref>{{cite web|last1=DeCandido|first1=Keith |author-link=Keith DeCandido|title=Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: 'Unification, Part I'|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/star-trek-the-next-generation-qunification-iq|publisher=[[Tor Books|Tor.com]]|date=June 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409150758/http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/star-trek-the-next-generation-qunification-iq|archive-date=April 9, 2015|access-date=April 15, 2015}}</ref>

Roddenberry's will left the majority of his $30 million estate to Barrett in a trust. He also left money to his children and his first wife, Eileen. However, his daughter Dawn contested the will, on the grounds that Barrett had undue influence on her father.<ref name=heir/> In a hearing held in 1993, the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that improprieties existed in the management of the trust and removed Barrett as executor. In another decision, the court found that Roddenberry had hidden assets from ''Star Trek'' in the [[Norway Corporation]] to keep funds away from his first wife, and ordered the payment of 50% of those assets to Eileen, as well as punitive damages.<ref>{{harvp|Engel|1994|p=262}}</ref> In 1996, the [[California courts of appeal|California Court of Appeals]] ruled that the original will, which stated that anyone who contested it would be disinherited, would stand. As a result, Dawn lost $500,000 from the estate, as well as a share of the trust upon Barrett's death.<ref name=heir>{{cite news|title=Roddenberry's Heir Losing Enterprise|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83951248.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402102548/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83951248.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015|access-date=March 22, 2015|work=Daily News|date=June 29, 1996|url-access= }}</ref> The appellate court also overturned the earlier decision to award Roddenberry's first wife, Eileen, 50% of his assets. The judge called that decision one "that should never have been".<ref>{{cite news|title=California's appellate court has overturned a jury's decision to order the estate of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to pay his first wife, Eileen, more than $4 million in damages|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18220788.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131101822/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18220788.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2013|access-date=March 22, 2015|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=April 22, 1996|url-access= }}</ref><ref name=Justia1996>{{cite web|access-date=March 6, 2018
|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/4th/44/634.html
|title=Roddenberry v. Roddenberry (1996) |work=Justia US Law}}</ref>

===Spaceflight===
In 1992, some of Roddenberry's ashes were flown into space, and returned to Earth, on the [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] mission [[STS-52]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19940429&id=bUMvAAAAIBAJ&pg=1725,8689414|title=Shuttle bore Roddenberry's ashes|work=[[Rome News-Tribune]]|date=April 29, 1994|access-date=August 4, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Zwecker|first1=Bill|title=Gene Roddenberry Goes Boldly|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4226265.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154741/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4226265.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015|access-date=March 22, 2015|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=April 29, 2014|url-access=}}</ref> On April 21, 1997,<ref name=founders/> a [[Celestis| Celestis spacecraft]] with {{convert|7|g|oz|frac=4}} of the cremated remains of Roddenberry,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Launching the Great Bird|journal=Star Trek Monthly|date=May 1997|volume=1|issue=27|page=5}}</ref> along with those of [[Timothy Leary]], [[Gerard K. O'Neill]] and 21 other people, was launched into Earth orbit as part of the [[Minisat 01]] mission aboard a [[Pegasus (rocket)|Pegasus XL]] rocket from a location near the [[Canary Islands]].<ref name=founders>{{cite web|title=The Founders Flight|url=http://www.celestis.com/foundersFlight.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208052016/http://www.celestis.com/foundersFlight.asp|archive-date=February 8, 2014|publisher=Celestis|access-date=April 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Seligmann|first1=Jean|title=Ashes Away|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19360616.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123519/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19360616.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015|access-date=March 22, 2015|work=Newsweek|date=May 5, 1997|url-access= }}</ref>

On May 20, 2002, the spacecraft's orbit deteriorated and it disintegrated in the atmosphere. Another flight to launch more of his ashes into deep space, along with those of Barrett, who died in 2008, was initially planned to take place in 2009. Unlike previous flights, the intention was that the flight would not return burning up in the Earth's atmosphere.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gene Roddenberry, wife to spend eternity in space|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D95VG5600.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144137/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D95VG5600.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015|access-date=March 22, 2015|agency=Associated Press|date=January 27, 2009|url-access= }}</ref> The payload would include the ashes of [[James Doohan]] in addition to the Roddenberrys' and several others and was scheduled to fly in 2016 on the [[Sunjammer (spacecraft)|Sunjammer]] solar sail experiment,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Sunjammer Flight is projected to launch in 2016|url=http://www.celestis.com/memorial/sunjammer/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018184953/http://www.celestis.com/memorial/sunjammer/|archive-date=October 18, 2014|publisher=Celestis|access-date=April 26, 2015}}</ref> but the project was canceled in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=NASA Nixes Sunjammer Mission, Cites Integration, Schedule Risk|url=http://spacenews.com/42227nasa-nixes-sunjammer-mission-cites-integration-schedule-risk/|access-date=April 25, 2017|date=October 17, 2014}}</ref> Celestis rescheduled their launch for 2020, then later rescheduled for June 2022, the next available commercial mission to deep space.<ref name="enterprise-flight.com">{{Cite web |date=2022-03-13 |title=Enterprise Flight into Deep Space DNA Launch {{!}} Celestis® |url=https://enterprise-flight.com/dna/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313170101/https://enterprise-flight.com/dna/ |archive-date=March 13, 2022 }}</ref> A sample of the couple's cremated remains will be sealed into a specially made capsule designed to withstand space travel. A spacecraft will carry the capsule, along with digitized tributes from fans, on Celestis' "Enterprise Flight".<ref name="enterprise-flight.com"/> The flight will also contain the ashes of [[Nichelle Nichols]] and [[Douglas Trumbull]].<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Reuters |date=2022-08-26 |title=Nichelle Nichols to become latest Star Trek star to have ashes sent into space |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/aug/26/nichelle-nichols-star-trek-ashes-space |access-date=2023-07-27 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The Celestis "Enterprise Flight" was successfully launched from [[Cape Canaveral, Florida]] on January 8, 2024.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/enterprise-flight/ |title = Enterprise Flight }}</ref>